Camden County P&Z not on board with Magruder

The Camden County Planning Commission has recommended denial of a rezoning application by Magruder Quarry & Equipment and Charles and Phyllis Turner for the Turners' property at Highway 5 and Tree Lane adjacent to the Village of Sunrise Beach.

The Camden County Planning Commission has recommended denial of a rezoning application by Magruder Quarry & Equipment and Charles and Phyllis Turner for the Turners' property at Highway 5 and Tree Lane adjacent to the Village of Sunrise Beach.

All commissioners present at the meeting voted against the rezoning except for Rich Piepers.

The proposal sought to rezone the 30 acres from agricultural-residential to medium impact commercial, but was connected to a special use permit that sought to quarry the land down to grade over a 15 year period for a possible retail development across the Turner property and an existing quarry operated by Magruder on an adjacent 30 acres in Sunrise Beach.

The special use permit will be decided by the Camden County Board of Adjustment at its Aug. 28 meeting. A final decision on the rezoning will be made by the Camden County Commission following a public hearing it will hold at 10 a.m. Sept. 19.

With the opposing vote from the planning commission and the stance against the proposal taken by the Sunrise Beach Board of Trustees, the proposal is likely to be voted down by commission and board of adjustment.

The village trustees voted Aug. 12 against both the rezoning and permit after the village planning commission recommended denial of the proposal.

With the Urban Services Boundary Agreement between Sunrise Beach and Camden County, the village is allowed to officially comment on P&Z cases involving property within 1 1/2 miles of the village-county boundary.

Village attorney Greg Williams presented the village's opinion on the case to the county planning commission Aug. 21.

Speaking on behalf of the board of trustees, he said the proposed development was deemed incompatible with the village's infrastructure plans in this area. The board also did not see the need for more speculative commercial zoning, he said, that would develop over such a long time period.

Quarry operator Mark Magruder had said that there was no end user in mind, just the intent to level the property and put it up for sale.

According to Magruder, he made the proposal to end quarry operations early at the Sunrise Beach site and leave a more useable property once the mining is done. When quarry operations are finished, the state requires little in the way of land reclamation.

Magruder has estimated that there is another 30 years of mining that can be done at the Sunrise Beach location.